Teenager boxes clever to feed the hungry

Kayleigh Shelton, from Swindon Academy, has collected boxes of food for Swindon Foodbank

STUDENT Kayleigh Shelton hadn’t realised just how life changing a tin of beans could be for a family before she volunteered at Swindon Foodbank.

Now the teenager from Gorse Hill has filled 10 boxes of food for the charity to help those in need.

The 17-year-old, who attends Swindon Academy, said: “We did an enterprise and part of it was about raising money for charity.

“My mum suggested I raise money for the Swindon Foodbank because she works for the council and knows about it.

“I started asking my friends around college to donate food and my mum also took a box to work.”

As part of her efforts Kayleigh also did some volunteering for the charity.

She said: “To gather more information about how the Swindon Foodbank works I went and volunteered for a couple of hours, and can honestly say I was shocked about how it was every day people like myself who had hit a rough patch and turned to the charity for help.

“I went in and I found out about how it’s got jobs for people who were homeless and it gives food to families.

“I was so shocked about some of the people I met and how happy they were when they got a tin of food.

“The people who volunteer were some of the nicest people I have ever met and deserve a medal, they take time out of their lives to volunteer for a couple of hours just to make someone else’s day that little bit better.”